EPIC Photonics Delegation to Israel
From 26 February till 1 March 2017 took place a delegation of 25 EPIC members to Israel. The event was composed of 4 company visits (ECI, Elbit Systems, Orbotech, Spectra Physics), 2 dinners, 1 B2B session, 1 VIP reception, and participation at the 6th OASIS International Conference and Exhibition on Optics and Electro-Optics. EPIC was warmly welcomed as reflected by the number of local sponsors, our appreciation goes to AccuBeat, AEAI (Association of Engineers, Architects and Graduates in Technological Sciences in Israel), BATM, Civan, Al Cielo, Gavish, HOLO/OR, IAESI (Association of Electronics and Software Industries), ISERD (Israeli R&D Directorate for the European Research Area), Raicol, and Teramount. EPIC members could meet with more than 40 Israeli companies. The OASIS conference organizers were also very generous, granting us 20 free tickets, and inviting EPIC to welcome the 1200 attendees of the conference.
Israel is home to a dynamic and vibrant photonics industry. Several hundreds of photonics companies collectively employ over 10.000 people. Photonics companies in Israel are attractive. In the last 2 years, investments have been made in the following Israeli companies: Lumus ($30 million), Innoviz ($9 million), Deep Optics ($4 million), Corephotonics ($17.8 million), Optimal+ ($42 Million), Sckipio, … and the following numerous Israeli companies have been acquired in recent years: ACS Motions Control, Alma Lasers, Anobit, Broadlight, Cadent, CogniTens, Cyopyics, Kailight, Light Instruments, Lightech, Linx Computational, Mobile Access, Ophir Optronics, Pebble Interfaces, Primesense, Provigent, Radiancy, Red-C, Spectrum Dynamics, V-Gen, Zoran, … and last month Intel confirmed the acquisition of Mobileye for $15 billion.
Feedback from the delegation participants was encouraging. Michael Kneier, VP Sales & Marketing at eagleyard Photonics said that the event was well organized and very fruitful. Although they do business in Israel for many years, the combination of company visits, presentations, and networking, especially in conjunction with the OASIS conference, was worthwhile for them to join and they could gain remarkable value from their participation. Michael remarked that the event was driven in the same spirit and dynamism that makes EPIC a beneficial organization for its members.
To maintain a permanent relationship, EPIC and IAESI (Association of Electronics and Software Industries) signed a collaboration Memorandum of Understanding. Both organizations are mutually motivated in cooperative activities involving technological and commercial advancement in the area of photonics. The partnership will encourage direct contact and cooperation between the consortiums and its members, exchange of information and contacts, identify partners for H2020 collaborative research projects, co-host visits of delegates of each consortium’s commercial trade missions and business events. Appreciation also goes to Joe van Zwaren who helped coordinate the delegation on the Israel side, and EPIC members Laytec , eagleyard Photonics, and fibeReality for their sponsorship.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN ELECTRO OPTICS MARCH 2017 www.electrooptics.com